


A Catalogue Of Facts And Incidents

by Aaron_The_8th_Demon



Series: A Combination Of Skill And Luck [9]
Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24602443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaron_The_8th_Demon/pseuds/Aaron_The_8th_Demon
Summary: Harry may not love easily, but he’s certainly easy to love himself.
Relationships: Dale Cooper/Harry Truman
Series: A Combination Of Skill And Luck [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617793
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	A Catalogue Of Facts And Incidents

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think I've done this kind of fic before? If I have, I've forgotten it, so it's very likely I haven't because I remember most of my fics in absurd levels of detail.

The first tell actually occurs very early on… their first night working together, in fact. An innocuous thing, a gesture of friendship, that neither of them notice and will only occur to Dale later on when he realizes that Harry does not perform these actions for anyone besides him. And that is initially in the form of frosted pastries.

“Get me a donut,” Dale had said to him in the cab of his truck when deciding upon an indirect method of pursuit in order to return Donna Hayward home to her parents.

And several minutes later, once the arrest has been made, Harry leads Dale into the conference room where row upon row of nice, sugary rings are laid out. Harry has a very kind look in his eyes when pointing Dale to these, an invitation and a promise:  _ eat with me. I like being around you. _

And it’s not unique to donuts. In spite of Dale advising him in the diner that one afternoon, Harry is very adept at gift-giving. He brings Dale small offerings of coffee on occasion simply because it’s been a few minutes, which he never does for anyone else. A fishing lure crafted with obvious care and a Bookhouse Boy patch when it appeared Dale would be departing Twin Peaks. A grounding touch, resting a palm on Dale’s shoulder even if there doesn’t seem to be any need for it, a solid and dependable man anchoring Dale’s eccentric mind to the world.

* * *

The second is a calm acceptance.

Besides some initial confusion when Dale retrieved the tiny square of paper from under Laura’s fingernail, Harry immediately defers to Dale’s strange, off-center methods of conducting investigations. And Dale can see right away that even lacking the same mental gifts, Harry still has some level of instinct pointing him in the right direction… and clearly, his instincts tell him to follow after Dale without complaint.

Andy isn’t bright enough to question Dale’s technique. Hawk certainly has the sharpness about him to do so, and does on occasion. Harry is for sure smart enough to wonder, but never does. He never asks for an explanation, and Dale can see that it’s because he doesn’t need one. They made friends right away, they’ve already formed strong threads of trust between them. And so Harry accepts all the odd things Dale does without asking “why.”

* * *

The third incident isn’t necessarily an incident in and of itself, but rather a conglomeration of many small moments: in order to get Harry to smile, all Dale has to do is smile himself. It works every time.

Dale is strongly under the impression that Harry doesn’t smile nearly this much for anyone else, and it’s largely because there’s no reason to. But it’s also a different expression altogether when Harry smiles for Dale. Hawk and Ed have known Harry for decades, and he looks at them with trust and friendship. These are the two dominating elements when Harry smiles at them, or sometimes amusement.

When Harry smiles for Dale, it’s very dissimilar. Yes, the trust is there, but so many other things are simultaneously present - curiosity alongside acceptance, fascination, possibly worry if Dale hasn’t gotten enough sleep the previous night, concern and even protectiveness after he was shot in his own hotel room. But also something Dale can’t quite name… he simply refers to it mentally as  _ softness. _ Beyond tender feelings, in general more subtle while also being equally powerful. It’s a look that tells Dale each of Harry’s emotions towards him even when Harry is incapable of realizing they exist at all.

* * *

The fourth is closely related to the third. It’s a natural protective stance, that consciously Harry’s perfectly aware of Dale being capable of looking after himself but on a deeper, unexplored level still strongly desiring to keep him safe.

It shows infrequently, but when it appears it’s undeniable. When charging Benjamin Horne with Laura’s murder, Harry physically steps forward to put himself between Ben and Dale, ready to take any potential lashing out from the suspect in their custody so that Dale won’t have to. As Dale moves to give himself up as a hostage in place of Ernie and Denise, Harry looks at him with a naked fear that the situation will take a left turn, Dale won’t come back out again, and there will be nothing Harry can do to prevent it. And then… then, Dale plays the threatening audio cassette in Harry’s office: “Coop, I’m not lettin’ you outta my sight.”

Dale is no stranger to peril and can take care of himself. But sometimes, it’s nice to know that maybe… maybe, this one time, he doesn’t have to. Because Harry will be there to look out for him.

* * *

And the fifth would not be possible without all the others - understanding.

It’s a process. Harry watches and learns Dale’s behaviors, idiosyncrasies, patterns of thought. And he gains an understanding that he may not always be able to comprehend the things Dale does. He grows to realize that sometimes, even  _ Dale _ doesn’t comprehend the things Dale does. But the understanding comes also that he doesn’t need to know everything in order to keep trusting Dale, for them to put the pieces together… that they become inseparable, halves of a unit.

And Dale watches fondly as this understanding forms. He’s aware, through a painful experience, that Harry does not love people easily, probably does not even fall in love easily to begin with, does not easily accept being in love with a person. It hurts him, he’s been through too many horrible endings to want to love other people. But Dale also believes that in some ways, he’s made it slightly less painful, even a tiny bit easier for Harry to learn to love him.

* * *

What causes Dale to realize that he also loves Harry is the plain, simple fact that he even takes the time to think about and catalogue this to begin with. Ordinarily, it’s something he would ignore, discard, pay no mind to. But he eagerly follows the signs and wonders quietly if (when) Harry will realize. He wants to see how Harry ultimately comprehends and grows to accept that they’re in love.

And Dale wraps himself in this feeling like a blanket. He manages not to let it distract him from the cases they’re working together, but also to simply enjoy this sensation of knowing that he’s loved, even if the other person hasn’t quite realized it yet.

Harry may not love easily, but he’s certainly easy to love himself.

**Author's Note:**

> All my Twin Peaks fics can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&include_work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=127943&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&user_id=Aaron_The_8th_Demon).
> 
> Comments are welcomed and encouraged!


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